tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874384585810528859.post6806902854183977469..comments2023-05-18T13:13:31.246+00:00Comments on Witterings of a Weegiewarbler: Our grandchildren may be United in a Kingdom of Austerity.Weegiewarblerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03565353275583070868noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874384585810528859.post-9415161380173596842012-07-16T21:33:12.448+00:002012-07-16T21:33:12.448+00:00Sorry about the spelling that was on my phone :(Sorry about the spelling that was on my phone :(Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09768379213456577224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874384585810528859.post-66784271817704383122012-07-16T21:15:46.092+00:002012-07-16T21:15:46.092+00:00Yes I did read the article, I agree that they are ...Yes I did read the article, I agree that they are cutting things they should not cut and not cutting things that they should but my point was that there are two ways to pay for a deficit. One way is to cut spending and choices gave to be made, irrespective of austerity it is obscene that they are paying for trident and at the same time pensioners are freezing and starving to death, that is ultimately about the society you want to live in. The other (more sensible) way out of deficit is to increase your income, Danny Blanchflower recently wrote about this but Jo Stiglitz, Krugman and Layard are equaly in favour of this approach. Alex Salmond seems to adopt this approach as well given that Stigliz has been appointed as one of the council of economic advisors. That of course ( to repeat myself) does not mean that we should not prodigies our spending on a more sensible and humane way that the approach taken by Westminster, it simply means that we can improve our collective wealth by earning more.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09768379213456577224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874384585810528859.post-55357013076421039832012-07-14T14:50:51.196+00:002012-07-14T14:50:51.196+00:00Hazel - you're right to bring this up, but jus...Hazel - you're right to bring this up, but just what do these UK size cutbacks mean in purely Scottish terms? Isn't it time we started to focus only on what it means to Scotland and forget about overall effects to the UK.<br /><br />Trident is a UK element but based in Scotland and soon to be shown the door by whatever means. We don't want it or need it, but we'll use the base for our own naval needs; that is, if Lord Fraser of Carmylie doesn't let it be blown it up in spite.<br /><br />Billions of quid were tossed down the drain when brand new Nimrods were ripped apart by cranes and that's a sickening reminder of the attitude we're dealing with here. Was that just for spite? That was our maritime patrol arm wasted.<br /><br />What army and service personnel are Scottish and could be mustered for Scottish operations on independence, but being scrapped before then? Will the air bases at Leuchers, Lossiemouth and Kinloss be fit for our purposes after the wrecking crews are finished?<br /><br />If we knew what the defence profile needs to be for an independent Scotland, we could argue the toss about these scrappings and it's time we put a figure to stop this wanton waste going on.Barontorchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09013396482625243468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874384585810528859.post-11814773197698582822012-07-13T21:49:46.019+00:002012-07-13T21:49:46.019+00:00Did you read the article? I asked why are they lay...Did you read the article? I asked why are they laying off service men when it would be better not to. Paying tax etc, local investments etc,. However, I do think Austerity in wasteful areas.. such as Trident will more than help pay for many things.Weegiewarblerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03565353275583070868noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3874384585810528859.post-55558935260299038102012-07-13T21:15:00.813+00:002012-07-13T21:15:00.813+00:00Sorry Hazel but you are fundamentally wrong when y...Sorry Hazel but you are fundamentally wrong when you state that "The reality of Austerity is that it is fundamentally required, needed because of the fiscal mess we find ourselves in....". Austerity is not required, in fact it is a self defeating policy, the big crash of the 30's proved that and its solution was espoused by John Maynard Keynes. The western world abandoned the agrremen t on full employment and adopted the mantra that the market is always right. It was and is only right for the winners, the rich and powerful elites that we allowed to govern us conspired to enrich themselves at our expense. Money is no longer based on a physical asset like gold, it is fiat money, unrepresented by assets. It is only a promise to pay and you can always pay if you print your own money, inflation will reduce the debt to acceptable levels (effectively a back door way of agreeing with creditors to pay less.<br />The Solution is for governments to invest in infrastructure (real assets) thus employing people who pay taxes, spend their money and thus creating demand which will in turn create more jobs with people paying tax and thus the counties income will exceed its expenditure.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09768379213456577224noreply@blogger.com